Ken Rinaldo is an internationally recognized artist, film maker and theorist whose practice operates at the intersection of art, biology, robotics, and artificial intelligence.
His work investigates collective human and nonhuman intelligences, exploring emergent systems, trans-species communication, and the evolving symbiosis between humans, animals, plants, and machines.
Rinaldo’s installations function as complex ecologies—living, responsive environments that dissolve boundaries between the organic and the technological, inviting audiences to reconsider agency, consciousness, and sustainability in an era of accelerating technological change.
Born in New York and based in Columbus, Ohio, Rinaldo is an Academy Emeritus Professor of Art and Technology at The Ohio State University and directs the art studio Emergent Systems. His interdisciplinary approach weaves together scientific research, bioengineering, cybernetics, and philosophy to create participatory ecosystems. His research-driven practice has resulted in collaborations with microbiologists, entomologists, engineers, and AI developers, creating hybrid installations that probe the ethics of co-evolution and the futures of planetary life in a technologically mediated planet.
His solo and collaborative works have been exhibited internationally at institutions such as Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art (Finland), Transmediale (Berlin), Nuit Blanche (Toronto), the Vancouver Olympics, Changwon Sculpture Biennale (Korea), the National Museum of Art (China), Ars Electronica (Austria) Hangzhou Biennale of Art (China), Centro National Arts (Mexico), Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), World Ocean Museum (Russia), The Climate Film Festival (New York) Te Papa Museum (New Zealand), Pan Palazzo Delle Arti (Italy), V2 DEAF (Holland), Biennial for Electronic Art (Australia), and Arco Arts Festival (Spain).
Among his notable commissioned artworks are Autopoiesis (2000), a networked robotic ecosystem; Augmented Fish Reality (2004), which enabled fish to control robotic vehicles, The Paparazzi Bots (2006) which followed you about and took your snapshot only if you smiled; The Autotelematic Spider Bots (2006) a networks of spider like robots, The Farm Fountain an aquaponics edible sculpture installation (2008, The Enteric Consciousness (2010), a living installation robotic tongue chair activated by microbes; Fusiform Polyphony (2011), a family of six furry robots that compose a song based on visitors’ facial snapshots; and CRISPR Seed Resurrection (2022), which explores the development of CRISPR based seeds, resilient enough to thrive on a warming planet.
Rinaldo’s contributions have been recognized with numerous prestigious awards, including the Ars Electronica Award of Distinction (2004), Vida 3.0 First Prize (2002), the United Nations Green Leaf Award (2004), as well as multiple fellowships supporting his research. He has held residencies at Pilchuck (Seattle) and delivered master classes at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, further bridging art and science in practice and pedagogy. His writings and projects are widely published in journals, exhibition catalogues, and monographs addressing art, technology, and hybrid ecologies.
He is a member of the Senior Academic Board for Antennae: The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture and the author of Interactive Electronics for Artists and Inventors. His work has been featured internationally in media including BBC, ORF, CNN, CNET, CBC, and the Discovery Channel.
Select publications include Art and Electronic Media by Edward Shanken, Evolution Haute Couture Art and Science in the Post-Biological Age edited by Dmitry Bulatov, Art and Science by Steve Wilson, Inside Art E Sciencia edited by Leonel Moura, MetaCreation; Art and Artificial Life by Mitchell Whitelaw, The Politics of the Impure V2 Publishing, Digital Art by Christiane Paul, Information Arts by Steve Wilson, Contemporary Italy, NY Arts Magazine, NY Times, Art Press Paris, Tema Celeste Italy, Wired Magazine and Art and Biotechnology: Viral Culture from CRISPER TO COVID Nettelton, C., & Mackenzie.
